The Trouble With RoboCars: “You Can’t Optimize People So Easily”

Driverless cars sound like something out of a science fiction novel. But believe it or not, Google prototypes are already here, cruising the streets of California. And computer engineers are devising intersections optimized for driverless cars, which Streetsblog NYC featured last week.

Optimists are excited about the technology's potential to reduce the bloodshed that results from human error. But many observers, including Emily Badger at Atlantic Cities and Tom Vanderbilt in Wired, have cautioned about the potential that driverless cars will further entrench the privilege of motorists over all other classes of road users.

David Alpert at Greater Greater Washington says this may be an idea that works better in theory than in practice:

Elsewhere on the Network today: Stop and Move marvels at the city of Fresno's wasteful use on funds dedicated for air pollution reduction. Second Avenue Sagas reports that the New York Times has raised the subject of congestion pricing in Manhattan, after previous pricing attempts fell to political opposition. And Bike Lane Living offers a range of perspectives on bicycling, as presented in television commercials.